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Uninvited

From New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan, Uninvited is a chilling and suspenseful story about a girl whose DNA brands her a killer, perfect for fans of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer and Confessions of a Murder Suspect.

Davy had everything--a terrific boyfriend, the homecoming crown, a bright future at Juilliard--but when her genetic tests come back positive for Homicidal Tendency Syndrome, she loses it all. Uninvited from her prestigious school, avoided by her friends and family, she is placed in a special class with other "carriers" who are treated like the murderers they someday might become.

Only Sean, a fellow HTS carrier, can relate to her new life and tells her that she alone controls her actions--not the code embedded into her DNA. But even if she can learn to trust him, can Davy trust herself?

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I wanted to read another book by Sophie Jordan because her other book called Reign of Shadows was amazing. Uninvited takes place in the future in the year 2021. Davy Hamilton has a perfect life. She's a musical prodigy, she’s popular in school and has a boyfriend. Until one day she gets tragic news that she is tested positive for HTS. Which is Homicidal Tendency Syndrome. If you are tested positive for this then it means that you are going to turn into a murderer. Davy loses everyone and she has to go to a public school with other kids with HTS. She then meets Sean O’Rourke, a guy who has a tattoo on his neck, identifying him more dangerous than he already is. I really liked this book because I liked the storyline. Its very interesting to see what a person's life is like now since they turn out to be a potential killer and is a threat to the society. There is a sequel to this book and I might read it. 5/5 stars.
- @AquafinaAstro of the Teen Review Board at the Hamilton Public Library

What would happen if you go from talented to dangerous? Awed to feared? From human to animal?

Life is normal for the most part in Davy's life. Actually , that's not correct. Life is <i> better </i> than normal. By a lot. Dating the most popular guy in school, being a musical prodigy on the path to Julliard, and having the best friend in the world, there's nothing bringing Davy down.
Well, that's not very correct either.

Davy's life turns upside when her blood tests from the fall come in. Positive. For HTS. The <i> kill gene </i> that marks her with the genetics of a potential killer. Now she's a pariah, kicked out of her prep school, out of Julliard, and out of her friend groups. Even her best friend won't talk to her and her boyfriend doesn't seem ready to stick around for the future they had planned. The people who have known her her whole life are now acting fearfully, like caged animals whenever she's around. She has become one of the people she fears the most. If that weren't bad enough, she is being sent to public school where she'll spend the whole day in 'The Cage', a room in the basement locked up with a wire fence, where they keep all the carriers. If she doesn't make friends fast, she won't last in this world, and the only carrier candidates she has are either out of the question, or too intimidating to even approach. Davy is falling apart as her life crumbles around her, but there might be one person to show her the way to be strong and survive. A person with dark golden hair and a collar of ink.

Can Davy learn her way through this new life before it kills her? Can she do it while staying true to herself, or will she find out that the label that's been stuck on her is all too accurate. Is she capable of being the killer society thinks her to be?

I liked this book a lot, and felt myself really connect with Davy's character. I shed angry, sympathetic tears at her unjust mistreatment, I was pissed when the people she used to trust betray her, and I was encouraging her along as she tested out her new life, as well as exploring her relationship with Sean. Davy seems to react in a very realistic way to the changes in her life, especially coming from such a privileged background, but she becomes stronger and stronger as the book goes on. When some people might have given up, Davy kept going, yes shedding some tears and having some insecurities and fears, but showing that she still has her humanity and appears to be saner and more compassionate than the people assigned to watch the carriers. (Honestly, I feel like society's view on all carriers being killers was simply enforced whenever non-carriers harassed, mistreated and put down the innocent carriers until they broke and reacted in ways that made society see them as nothing but violent. The ones who aren't violent are being treated like animals until they become animals themselves, but what this dystopian society doesn't realize, is that if you treat any sane, normal person the way these carriers were being treated, they would snap too. It's not solely nature that determines if someone will be a killer. It's also nurture. And that is what Davy's story reveals.

I'm super excited for the next book!

NyaReads
Apr 27, 2015

This book was good Jordan knows how to make you mad at her but not hate her. The injustice, lust and betrayal is what made this novel good. I didn't find Davy 's self-loathing annoying rather, relatable especially for minorities. I especially love the cover.

SupremeEli
Jun 29, 2014

very good but got me mad because she did not deserve that imprint.. hope she gets it taken off like that lady said... and the love story is crazy.....LOVE the story... let the story of davy continue.... it is far from over

BCD2013
Jun 06, 2014

NYPL Staff Pick
In a world where criminals can be identified before they commit crimes, a high school senior tests positive for the "kill gene."
- Andrea Lipinski

If the kids in the breakfast club were all in trouble for being potential murderers this would be that book. I must say I liked the Part 2 much better than the first half of the book. This was due primary to my own person dislike of anxiety-causing, mistaken identity, no way out situations like the one Davy is thrust into after her diagnosis with HTS. I did enjoy the interactions she has with other "carriers." I did not like her winy self-loathing.
Part 2, once she makes it to the internment camp for "special" murderous-teens is much more in the vein of my preferred post-apocalyptic/dystopian story: girl gets beat up, girl grows stronger (mentally & physically, girl kicks-ass. And while I did like the male lead,Sean, he was kind of annoying in that he felt he constantly needed to save Davy.
Lastly, I understand that this was the first in a series, however, I felt as if it ended abruptly. There was a small climactic point towards the end of the book but not enough for carry the remainder of the novel. I would, though, read another installment!

Recommended if you like: dystopian, action, romance, child-murders (that's a genre right? I'm totally gonna start a bookshelf on Goodreads 4 books about child-murders, there are surprisingly quite a few)

OK, I see what people mean when they say that Davy is slightly conceited, but look where she comes from...but I like this book. It exposes human flaws in the form of Homicidal Tendency Syndrome. Personally, I believe that if all humans are imperfect and can be homicidal should they choose, every person in this book has HTS, technically. The characters like Gil, Sean, and Davy were just unfortunate to have the particular gene Wainworth blamed for HTS. That is my opinion, and I respect other opinions that disagree with my beliefs about this book.

niyaboo
Mar 16, 2014

I like this book very much, Homicidal Tendency Syndrome is very interesting. The main character Davina is a little conceited if you ask me, but along her journey you can see her change in attitude. She realize's she is not the only person in the world who has HTS and doesnt have hurtful intensions. Theres a sweet love story somewhere along in the book (THAT YOU WILL LOVE)....

I tossed this book aside in frustration and annoyance three times before I made it halfway through, then I just had to stop. Davy is condescending, shallow, judgmental, and stupid. I guess there's some action in the second half of the book, but I couldn't stand the MC long enough to get to it. Read the Kirkus review to get an idea of how bad this book is.